Overview
- A licensed detectorist, Oliver Riedl, found the deposit on a field near Wesseling in the autumn of 2025 and reported it to authorities so archaeologists could recover all 934 coins.
- Numismatic study dates the youngest coin to 124/125 AD, placing the burial in Emperor Hadrian’s reign while many coins date to the Flavian period and the oldest to 148 BC.
- The hoard weighs about 3.1 kilograms and was removed as a single block; X‑rays during conservation revealed ceramic fragments and straw that suggest the coins lay in a straw‑lined vessel.
- The LVR says this is the largest Hadrian‑era coin hoard found in Germany and the fifth‑largest worldwide for that period, and the find is now state property with a reward for the lawful finder.
- Authorities stress the find’s scientific value far outweighs its modest silver value and say the case underscores how licensed detecting and prompt reporting protect archaeological context and enable further study of the Roman Rhineland.